Draft labour laws will kill, not create jobs - DA

The cabinet is weighing four amendments to South African labour legislation that are so poorly drafted they may actually destroy, rather than create jobs, says the DA.

he cabinet is weighing a package of four labour law amendments the would destroy, rather than create jobs, the Democratic Alliance says.

The bills, which are intended in part to constrain or to limit labour broking, have not been formally tabled, but DA labour spokesman Ian Ollis says he has seen them and is deeply worried about their likely impact.

"Individually and jointly they propose a series of changes that are, in a number of cases, profoundly problematic and, if left in their current form, will have the effect of destroying rather than creating jobs, on the one hand, and further centralising power in the hands of the executive, on the other," he said in a statement.

Ollis says the bills would totally repeal the section of the Labour Relations Act that provides for labour brokers, who are agents who employ casual workers and then "rent" them out to employers, thereby avoiding certain provisions of the Act.

Other clauses would give the Labour Court powers equivalent to the Constitutional Court and would give labour inspectors virtually unlimited power to enter any premises at any time.

"The raft of draft legislation will lead to a severe curtailment of temporary employment, onerous burdens being unnecessarily placed on small business in particular, inappropriate powers being given to labour courts and increased difficulty in hiring and firing of employees," Ollis says.

The Sunday newspaper Rapport says the cabinet has picked up the weakneses and has stalled the bills while the drafting is reviewed.